A Co Tyrone native who sold businesses for millions is now looking after stray dogs on a Thai island - after he said he nearly drank himself to death.
Niall Harbison, whose mother and father are from Cookstown and Ardboe, founded successful social media companies Simply Zesty and Lovin Dublin before selling them for seven figure sums.
Having moved to Brussels at an early age where his father was a diplomat, Niall later moved to Dublin and worked as a chef, where he went on to cook on some of the world’s most luxurious yachts.
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Despite his rollercoaster career, 43-year-old Niall says he has long suffered from bouts of depression and alcoholism.
After a move to the Thai island of Koh Samui two years ago, he said he went on a drinking rampage that landed him in ICU for three days.
“It was two Christmases ago, that was kind of the catalyst moment to rethink everything,” Niall told Belfast Live.
“I had too much time on my hands. I always had an issue with drink and it just came to a head at that stage.
“I nearly drank myself to death, literally ended up in the ICU in the hospital and it was kind of a life-changing moment.
“I’d done things in myself in business or whatever but I wanted to do something meaningful.
“It’s a kind of a cliche but it was life flashing before my eyes almost.
“I always loved dogs so I kind of just wanted to tackle this problem and try and fix it.”
Having turned his back on alcohol, Niall says he realised he needed something to be passionate about and helping to feed the thousands of dogs on Koh Samui was that.
He added: “I feed about 650 now every day through volunteers and I’m trying to build it up in to something a lot bigger across Thailand.
“I started with just three or four dogs on my own and it just started growing from there and I think it’s capturing people’s imaginations because there’s so much doom and gloom around.
“It’s hard to understand unless you’ve been here, they’re hanging outside the shop and the pub and it’s very hard to get your head around.
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“I live on Koh Samui, a small enough island and there are 10,000 stray dogs on this one island alone - they’re everywhere.”
During his time as the head of Dublin food and entertainment guide Lovin Dublin, Niall had a reputation for being outspoken online and wrote a number of controversial opinion pieces which provoked a negative reaction on social media.
Now having moved away from a life where he says he was constantly working, he could never go back to the way his life was during his time in Ireland.
“The reason I left Ireland was that it was always difficult there with the long winters and dark nights,” he said.
“There’s not much else to do and all your friends are drinking and it’s just the culture.
“I moved to Thailand to get a break from that, but it doesn’t really matter where you are. If you’re an alcoholic you’ll always find drink.
“I had too much time on my hands and no focus in life. I had nobody to really keep an eye on me so I just went off the rails completely.
“I wouldn’t be able to fit into that lifestyle again, it would be too much of a culture shock to go back to it.”
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